Still no sign of missing Fair Haven man

After more than a week of searching, the Vermont State Police said they have still had no sign of Jonathan Schaff, a Fair Haven man who disappeared following a bar fight in Granville, N.Y.

Vermont State Police Detective Lt. Kevin Lane said police are waiting for weather conditions to improve before they can search for Schaff, 24, in the Mettawee River. To prevent putting state police scuba team members at risk, the team will search the river when weather and water conditions are deemed safe by the team commander, Lane said.

“It’s been bitterly cold,” Lane said. “I don’t know if it’s been above 10 degrees, and then you add the wind chill on top of that. They start having equipment failures if they’re too cold.”

At this point, there are no indications of foul play, but police are concerned for Schaff’s safety, Lane said.

“Whether he’s outside or inside or whatever, we’re still hopeful for the best that he’s somewhere and doing well,” Lane said.

Police said Schaff left Riverside Pub in Granville, N.Y., on foot and he was last seen early on Jan. 18 walking east on East Main Street in the area of the New York-Vermont state line. Cell phone data initially collected by police placed Schaff possibly in the area of Sheldon’s Concrete or Newmont Slate Company on Vermont 149 in Pawlet.

Schaff is described as 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. Police said he was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and/or a dark brown Carhartt jacket with dark blue jeans and brown work boots.

Lane said he has been in touch with Schaff’s family on a daily basis, but they have not heard from Schaff since his disappearance. New leads on Schaff’s whereabouts have been sparse, Lane said.

“It’s just highly unusual that he’d be gone for this amount of time,” Lane said. “It’s not something he’d typically do or has done in the past. He lived with his mother, and it was a good relationship, so it’s just highly unusual that he would just not show up somewhere.”

Anyone with information on Schaff’s whereabouts can contact either the Granville Police Department at 518-642-1414 or the Vermont State Police in Rutland at 773-9101.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.